U.S. Supreme Court turns down a hearing for Oak Flat copper mine

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down a request by grassroots group Apache Stronghold to hear a longstanding lawsuit over the fate of a huge copper mine at Oak Flat, east of Phoenix.

The decision, handed down May 27, 2025, removes a major roadblock for Resolution Copper to move forward with the project, which would leave a gaping crater on land held sacred by Indigenous peoples.

The high court has held hearings since December to debate if it would take the case, brought by opponents of the mine after losing a series of lower-court rulings.

Debra Krol, an Indigenous Affairs Reporter at “The Arizona Republic,” joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss what this means for the Oak Flat copper mine. Krol has been reporting on this story about the lawsuit regarding the mine for eight years.

“They’re thinking there’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 billion pounds of copper underneath Oak Flat campground,” Krol said. “And we know that there has been mining in that area for more than 100 years until the Eisenhower Administration issued a mining ban; it was reiterated by the Nixon Administration,” Krol said.

Krol shared insight on what is to come with other upcoming lawsuits now that the Supreme Court turned down the request to hear the lawsuit on Oak Flat.

“It’s not a done deal,” Krol said. “There’s two other lawsuits in the wings, one by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and one by a coalition of environmentalists. The San Carlos Apache Tribe has filed for an emergency injunction while their suit is adjudicated because they’re fearing that once the environmental impact statement is issued, probably in mid-June, that opens up the 60-day window, any time of which they can hand the deed over to Resolution. And they just want a chance; they want their day in court.”